EMQ

Church growth is a complicated, multi-faceted study. But church growth is also a must, not just an interesting subject to discuss at the afternoon tea. I, for one, believe the church must grow. If it doesn’t, we need to know why.

Numbers games on big city streets around the world rob people of money that could go for food and clothing. The missionary enterprise is also plagued by numbers games.

Just as many roads in the third world seem to be constructed solely of potholes, so missionary life and service sometimes seem to be composed of a boundless configuration of problems.

The church in Antioch became the vehicle for two areas, first the vision and second the strategy.

George: Boy, this situation is confusing. I’m trying to sort it out. Sam, will you help me? Having our units overseas can cause some real problems.

Sam: Yes, it can, but that doesn’t mean it’s hopeless. These units cost about $150,000. Most work well, but too many seem to operate at 25 percent capacity. This one has broken down and has to be sent back.

Jokes about single women missionaries bother me. First, for what they reveal about the people who tell them – Christians should reject all humor made at other’s expense. Second, for what I fear is revealed about the women referred to – our failure to protect their dignity and personhood has helped produce characteristics that become the basis for those jokes.

By and large, the religion of Islam has been presented to Western readers in its theologically orthodox aspect. Anyone who has read a fair amount of material on Islam is familiar with the confession, “There is no god but Allah, and Mohammad is his prophet.”

Perhaps the greatest danger evangelicals face is the high potential for the disintegration of the home.

“Crossing an ocean doesn’t make one a missionary” has become an axiom in missionary circles. I’d like to add a corollary that I think is just as self-evident: “Crossing an ocean doesn’t make one a church-planter.”

Since there are probably more opinions about politics than there are people to hold them, any discussion of politics is bound to be controversial. But the Bible peels away the cultural veneer missionaries sometimes mistake for Christianity and forces them to seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness, rather than some transient political ideal.